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If you’re like most people, your first time plucking your eyebrows marked the beginning of a long, sometimes painful eyebrow-maintenance journey. From there, the road forked into a thousand possible paths: you could keep plucking or graduate to waxing or threading. And these days there are even more possibilities. You can shirk brow-thinning all together and go in the complete opposite direction with eyebrow extensions. Or you can go all-in and give yourself this eyebrow makeover, which involves seven different products (don’t skip highlighter!).Who knew a simple set of tweezers could lead to such a complicated, exhausting endeavor? Which raises the question: how young is too young to start plucking your eyebrows? And what do you need to know before you attempt to master the art of the arch? To find out, we asked a professional eyebrow waxer, a teen, a mom, and a guidance counselor to weigh in.Is Your Kid Ready?Some questions to consider before you hand over the tweezers.Is your kid self-conscious about her (or his!) brows? True, looks aren’t everything. But they can feel important, especially to teenagers. Junior-high English teacher and mom Lauren Pedecone said, “A parent has to consider the effect [a kid’s] eyebrows could be having on her self-confidence. Is she being made fun of? Or is it very bothersome? If so, then this might be a small change that could help greatly.”Does your kid know about over-plucking? Sure, most kids who are anxious about their appearance are going to be careful not to pluck away a ridiculous amount of hair the first time. But Elena Serbu, an aesthetician at Asanda Aveda Spa Lounge, said over-plucking actually happens slowly, over time. You don’t notice it at first, but she said she has tons of clients in their 20s who come to her saying, “I don’t have enough eyebrows.”This is a risk whatever your age. To avoid damage to the eyebrows, she recommends plucking at most every six weeks.Does your kid understand thick brows can be beautiful? If she has specific quibbles with her brows’ exact shape or wants to divide up a unibrow, that’s fine. Just make sure that she realizes thick brows are just as beautiful as thin ones—if not more so. They can make a face expressive. Or, as Elena put it, "Eyebrows are your personality.”Has your kid considered waxing and threading, too?Elena waxes eyebrows and recommends it for teens. (Younger kids’ skin is often too sensitive for the treatment, and “there’s a risk of peeling skin.”)High-school senior Lily Binkus recently switched over from waxing to threading. In her experience, at least, it goes more quickly and leaves longer-lasting results—which makes it great for kids who aren’t ready for the upkeep.Can your kid describe the look she wants? This is especially important if when soliciting the help of a professional, as Lily found out during one of her first threading appointments. “[The lady] tried to thread my forehead. Like, the whole thing. I was like, ‘What are you doing?’” She was was worried that by her next appointment, her forehead would be covered in hair.(It wasn’t, though! She’s OK.)Do you want to be hands-off about the whole thing? That might not be the best idea. This is the type of beauty endeavor it pays to supervise or at least rigorously discuss beforehand, said high-school guidance counselor and mom Lora Alexander-Flaherty. She recommends making your daughter’s first round of plucking a mother-daughter (or beauty mentor-daughter) activity, “so your child is not that one kid that [everyone’s] like, 'Oooh, what happened to you?'"So What’s The Right Age?Elena thinks it varies, depending on the method. For plucking, she recommends waiting until 20 to avoid accidental over-tweezing. For waxing, she recommends waiting until at least 14, the year skin sensitivity starts to drop off.
Lauren thinks sometime in late middle school is the right time—around 12 or 13 years old.Lora recommends roughly 16, the year of many kids’ first major school dance. "But if they've got a unibrow, they better start as early as possible."Lily thinks 13–14 is the right age.Photo Illustration by Mark Mills, GrouponAge is just a number. Except when it comes to these articles:What's the Right Age For Your First Tattoo?What's the Right Age to Start Shaving Your Legs?

Like most people, I remember my first kiss. But I just happen remember the first time I shaved my legs better. I was in seventh grade, and my mom had forbidden me to do it until I was “older,” which was code for “more coordinated.” She was worried I couldn’t handle a razor.
Needless to say, I didn’t listen. I thought hairless legs would finally make me beautiful. Besides, how bad could a nick be? So one day, home alone after school, I went for it. Initially, I rubbed my calves with the handle end of the razor—a very bad sign, in hindsight. And soon after, I cut myself badly enough that I almost fainted. To add insult to (literal) injury, I called the guy I had a crush on for comfort afterward—one of many reasons we never dated.This is all to say that leg hair can be a powerful motivator, and that removing leg hair, whether you’re shaving or waxing, can be painful (emotionally as well as physically). So how do you know when to start shaving your legs? Below, we gathered perspectives from women of all ages, including a teen, a guidance counselor, and a mom.Is Your Kid Ready?Some questions to consider before you hand over the razor.
Does your kid feel awkward about her leg hair?Some kids may want to start shaving their legs to feel more grown up, but others may be feeling self-conscious about their changing bodies. “If your legs are super, super hairy and you're very self-conscious about it, then maybe you should [start shaving],” said guidance counselor and mom Lora Alexander-Flaherty.Lauren Pedecone, a middle-school English teacher and mom, agreed. In fact, most of our interviewees agreed that while it’s important for kids to love their bodies, they don’t have to love their leg hair, especially during middle school, which can be a particularly awkward time.Is her leg hair often on display?Lifestyle can be an important factor to consider when deciding if it’s time to start shaving. “If she plays sports or often has bare legs, then [leg hair] may be more noticeable,” Lauren said. Kids who live in warm climates may find it practical to start earlier, as will those who are into activities like cheerleading or gymnastics.Is shaving the best option for her needs?Nataliya Dilay, the waxing specialist at Salon Envy in Chicago, recommends waxing instead of shaving for vacations and other short periods of bare-leg time. Waxing may be more expensive than shaving, but it requires less upkeep, which may be appropriate for a young woman who’s not ready to commit to shaving every day or every other day. Does your kid know how to shave properly?Regardless of age, most children will need to be shown how to use a razor safely, but they may also need some advice on choosing the right razor. Groupon writer Lisa Farver started shaving her legs at 14 because her classmates were teasing her “all the time.” And for a while, she shaved on the sly with her dad’s razor. “He was not happy about that,” she said.It’s also important that kids know the right products to use for skincare, both during and after shaving. Nataliya prefers shaving cream over soap and recommends “exfoliation when your hair starts growing back to prevent ingrown hair.”Does she know that not shaving her legs is an option, too?
When Lisa thinks back to her first time shaving, she wishes she had understood “how little shaving your legs has to do with becoming a ‘grownup’ or becoming a ‘woman’ or feeling ‘beautiful.’” “Maybe share with your child that there are plenty of women who don't shave their legs and armpits,” she said. “[Today] I have more leg hair and armpit hair than a lot of the men I know, and I feel much more secure in myself than I did when I was 14.”So What’s the Right Age to Start Shaving?Lauren recommends starting in middle school—ages 12, 13, or 14. “Kids start to worry and pay attention to the social aspects of their lives much more at this age.”
High-school senior Lily Binkus thinks between 12 and 14 is ideal. “But if it can be put off, I would put it off for as long as possible.”Lora recommends 15 or 16, while getting ready for a special occasion, like a dance. Although she notes that another great time to start is “never!”Nataliya’s daughter start shaving around 14. It’s an age when other kids are awkward enough to point out your hair. “Someone can be like, ‘Oh, your legs are hairy,’” she said.
Photo illustration by Mark Mills, GrouponWe got opinions on other milestone style decisions:The Right Age for Getting Your Ears Pierced
You’re never too old or too young for getting your ears pierced, but at certain ages, you might be too wimpy.What's the Right Age to Start Wearing Makeup?
Makeup artists, parents, and teachers share their opinions on the right age to start wearing makeup.

With temperatures warming up, the spring might just be the most popular time of year for body waxing. However, while this season might be when people wax most, it’s much harder to guess which people wax most. Or least.Luckily, Groupon is in a position to find out. We have plenty of data on where body waxing is most popular, and we were able to tally the 2014 sales of six types of waxing Groupons (brow/face, bikini/Brazilian, arm, leg, men’s, and general waxing). We then ranked cities by how many of these deals they purchased.Below, find out which five cities love waxing most, and which five might pay to not get waxed.Why is Santa Barbara the city where waxing is most popular?Santa Barbara left every other city in the dust. Groupon users there purchased 30% more waxes than even those in the runner-up region, Ventura County. To shed light on this stat, we talked to Alyssa Lopez, an esthetician at Alston Face & Body. A lifelong Santa Barbaran, to her the reason was obvious: “Our year-round beautiful weather!” she said. “Being in Santa Barbara … the beach is where you want to be.”Local style blogger Kelly Oshiro heartily agreed. “Beach season pretty much never ends in Santa Barbara,” she said. “There are so many students and young people here, they like to keep things in order since its shorts and bikini weather year-round.”For a male perspective—after all, our data does include men’s waxing—we also chatted with Jim Mahoney, curator of the Santa Barbara Surfing Museum. “The beach people here are super conscious of their looks and aura,” he said, “especially around the tide pools at the beach, which act as natural mirrors.”Why is Providence the city where waxing is least popular?Groupon users here had next to no interest in waxing deals in 2014, so we asked Lauren Saccoccio, esthetician at Total Body Affinity, why that might be. The Rhode Island native speculated that locals might just be seeking out different types of hair removal. She said she’s “noticed a [slight] decline in waxing, and our biggest competition in that area is probably threading.” When asked, though, she did admit to seeing plenty of eye-catching body hair around town.Providence personal stylist Jill Marinelli went so far as to suggest body hair might, in fact, be trending. “The bearded lumbersexuals are taking over, and I’m wondering if the ladies are taking a cue from them.”Images by Matt Pennetti, Groupon.Read about other city superlatives:The Most Romantic Cities in AmericaThe 10 Most Pampered Cities in America